Floatable thermometer



J1me 1953 E. R. KEBBON FLOATABLE THERMOMETER Filed Sept. 19, 1951 IN V EN TOR.

EARL R. KEBBO/V BY @Zq d ATT IVE Y5 be measured.

' of afloata'ble thermometer"comprising a, float, 20 The glass 'thermometer maybe of conven- Patented June 16, 1953 a UNITED. mm; {OFFICE I i M rnonrunnz i iiiio mrnn i Q 7 l l I I Earl R Kebbon, Chatham, N. J assignor' to Wes.-

ton Electrical Instrument Corporation, Newark, Ni 1., a corporation of New Jersey Application September 19, 19.51, Serial No. 247,287 6 Claims. (o1.'13 ss) This invention relates to thermometers and preferably, of a plastic. Thetransparent tube more particularly to a, thermometer adapted to isl'p'rovided with a plurality of transverse holes float in a'fluid, the temperature of which is to i2 to permit'the flow of fluid into the tube when v the device is in use. The lower end of the tube f An object of this invention" is the provision carries a hollow, metallicmember [3 having a of affl'oatable thermometer including means for reduced diameter-section that may be forcedjusting the extent to which the thermometer fitted inside the tube," asshown, said member extends above the. fluid and a fixed reference providing" the necessary weight to float the de index to which a selected graduation 'of the vice in an upright position in the fluid. By way thermometer can be set in order to facilitate a of illustration; the surface of the fluid is indireading of the departure of. the fluid temperacated byithe numeral I4 in Figure 1. Disposed ture from a predetermined normal value. 1 within'the tube is a'curved' leaf spring l5 hav-' An object of this invention is the provision of ing one end: secured to the tube as by the rivet a simple, economic float assembly .for a glass (6-. Normally, a major portion of the leaf spring thermometer which assembly will float upright '55 extends toward the tube axis, Thus, when the even-though aconsiderable'portion of the ther glass thermometer'i'l is inserted into the-tube mometer extends above'the surface of thefluid the spring provides suflicient frictional restraint whose temperature isfbeing measured. to"retain -the thermometer in the desired posi An object of this invention is the provision non.

a transparent tube carried by the float,'=a weight tional construction although I prefer to add a at one end of thetube, a normal reference mark black or red dye to 'theexpansiblefluid for betat the other end of s the tube, a thermometer ter readability of the spirit'column' through the disposed within the tube and friction means for upper portion of' the plastic tube II. It will be retaining the thermometer in a selected, fixed apparent the thermometer is slidable to any deposition relative to thetube. sired position within the transparent tube. vThe These and other objects and advantages will weight I3 is made sufiiciently heavy so that a be apparent from the following description when major portion of the thermometer can extend taken with the accompanying drawings illusupwardly out of the plastic tube and yet remain trating several embodiments of the invention. in an upright position. I The drawings are for purposes of illustration In manyapplications wherein a thermometer and are not to be construed as defining the is floated in a fluid the thermometer serves as S pe limits O the invention, reference for a quick means to indicate deviations of fluid the latter purpose being had to the appended temperature from a predetermined normal, or claims. operating, value. To facilitate reading of the In the drawings wherein like reference chardevice for this purpose I provide a fixed, readilyacters denote like parts in the several views: visible index mark l8 around the upper end of Figure 1 is a front elevation of a thermometer the transparent tube. Thus, if the normal opmade in accordance with one embodiment of this crating range of the fluid is 100 degrees F., the invention; operator merely slides the thermometer into the Figure 2 is a central sectional view taken tube until the 100 degree scale graduation of the through the float and transparent tube of the thermometer is alined with the index mark. In

device shown in Figure 1; such arrangement even a quick view of Figure Figure 3 is an elevation view showing a modi- 1 will show the temperature deviation of the flufication of the upper end of the device; and id. As the operator will know the temperature Figure 4 is a fragmentary elevation view showequivalent of each scale graduation on the paring another embodiment of the invention deti-cular thermometer being used, he will know, signed to float the thermometer at an angle at once, the actual temperature of the fluid relative to the surface of the fluid being measwithout reference to the specific temperature values marked on the thermometer. It may here ured.

Referring now to Figures 1 and 2, my device be pointed out that in an application wherein comprises a float l0 made of any suitable matethe fluid has a .normal operating range berial such as, for example, a conventional Pingtween, say, and F., two reference marks pong ball, having axially alined holes therein can be provided on the transparent tube. Such to accommodate a transparent tube ll made, marks would be spaced apart a distance correinvention wherein the upper end of the transparent tube H is flattened to conform, gener- H ally, to the flattened top section of the thermometer H. A pair of radially-alined holes are provided in the flattened portion of the tube,

such holes also being alined with the hole in a thermometer top, and a suitable ring is inserted through the holes, as shown. In this particular construction the position of the thermometer within the tube is fixed and the float I0 is attached to the tube at a point such that the portion of the thermometer extending above the float carries the range of temperature values suitable for the particular application. A metal ring '20 may be attached, as shown, to serve as a convenient means for hanging-the thermometer when not in use. A an alternate construction, when the transparent tube I I is made of a relatively thin-walledplastic material the upper section need not be flattened as a separate operation. The thermometer is merely forced into such tube which wil1;deform to accommodate the flattened top section of the thermometer whereby the thermometer will be held firmly in position within the tube.

Figure 4 illustrates a modification of the device shown in Figure 1. Here, however, the float I0 is mounted eccentrically relative to the tube ll whereby the axes of the tube and thermometer will be disposed at an angle relative to the surface of the fluid when the device is in use.

Having now described my invention certain variations and modifications of the individual parts and their cooperating assembly will be apparent to those skilled in the art. tions and modifications can be made without de- Such varia- 4 parting from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A floatable thermometer comprising a spherical float, a transparent tube passing through the float, a weight secured to one end of the tube, a plurality of holes in the wall of the tube, and a; glass thermometer disposed substantially axially within the tube and carrying temperature markings.

' 2. The invention as recited in claim 1 and including a leaf spring having an end secured to the tube wall, said spring having a central section frictionally engaging the surface of the thermometer.

3. The invention as recited in claim 2 wherein the tube passes through the float along a chord of the sphere.

4. "I'heinvention as recited in claim 1 and including a fixed reference mark on the other end of the said tube. r v 5. .The inventionas recited in claim 1 wherein the thermometer has a flattened top section having a hole therein, the other end of the said tube is flattened and provided with alined holes, in, combination with a ringv passing through the holes in thetu be andthe'hole in the thermome etertop.

6. The-invention as recited in claim 1, wherein the thermometer has fa flattened top section, the transparent .tube is made of a deformable plastic and the entire thermometer is disposed within the tube. V

" I 'IilARL'RpKEBBON.

References Cited inthe file of this patent UNITE is ATEs: PATENTS Number- Nam g Date 660,094 Hicks Jan. 15, 1901 907,107. .JCourtois Dec. 15, 1908 2,312,106 Longacre Feb. 23, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date France Oct. 26, 1925 

